Zazou Marketing

Recently I posted about how Starbucks was bucking the short-copy trend — opting for a page of copy rather than a one-line zinger. But it looks like they have been out-copied by a long shot!

As part of Cesar Sunrise’s launch of “the first-ever gourmet canine cuisine breakfast,” they have created an eight-page, make-believe humorous newspaper. Called The West Highland Herald, it is chock-full of stories written by dogs for dogs. Yes, you read that right: The stories are written by dogs with their dog peers in mind. (You can also view the paper on their Web site.)

To give you a sense of this newspaper, in the “fashion and lifestyle section” the headline reads, “Bold Shapes Dominate Milan Runways” and runs with the following photo:

This story includes the following excerpt:

First, let’s talk collars. Expect them to get tougher than leather, with several designers taking their cue from the junkyard and early 80s punk music. That’s right, studs and spikes are back! Goodbye bitch—hello butch!

And in the “Regional News” section a headline says, “Dog Saves Family from Vicious Vacuum,” with a story that starts with the following copy:

LOST GATOS—A very brave and fast-acting South Bay Pomeranian put an end to an upright vacuum bent on destruction this past Saturday. Teddy, 4, of La Serra Terrace, made a split-second decision that spared his family certain harm.

And there is a lot more where this came from.

You may ask, “Where is the Cesar ad in all of this?” That’s easy: On each page there is a labeled advertisement (definitely keeping things authentic here).  One says, “wake up to something special, cesar sunrise breakfast entrees.” Another says “new! cesar sunrise brand.” When you click through any of the ads, an extensive, multi-paged interactive Cesar ad pops up.

As for whether this humorous campaign will generate additional business, as always that remains to be seen. However, this ad campaign is entertaining and is certainly designed to go viral. If it does (with the help of a few people like me) it may very well increase sales.

If you’re launching an ad campaign, you certainly want a return on your investment. So it’s nice to know that research shows how to make your ad campaign increase sales or profit.

Here are the results of a study done by The Journal of Advertising Research, as published in Ad Age today, which found that the following strategies are most likely to increase sales or profit:

* Focus on hard objectives, such as specific market-share gains, rather than soft ones, such as brand awareness
* Focus on price, not volume
* Focus on penetration (winning new consumers) rather than loyalty
* Influence consumers emotionally rather than rationally
* Create ads with “talk value”
* Have a high share of voice relative to brand market share
* Include TV in the mix
* Include a small number of media channels with a concerted message

Source: Les Binet & Peter Field, June issue, Journal of Advertising Research.

While some of these elements are part of an overall marketing strategy, many of them are very much intertwined with your copy. So remember, for instance, to consider keeping your focus on specific objectives that win new consumers.

Of course, each advertising campaign is different and some “rules” are meant to be broken, but the above list is certainly a good guideline when mapping out your ad campaign — or, for that matter, any marketing materials or marketing campaign.

A few days ago I was working on a brochure about a new product launch. In it I needed to explain that matcha green tea has more antioxidants in it than any other tea. To do so I wrote, “Matcha has 10 times the antioxidants, when compared to traditional green and black teas.”

Then I thought… “Is that right?”

As I have done in the past, I headed over to my “APA Style Book” and looked it up. Here’s what it has to say:

compared to, compared with

Used compared to when the intent is to assert, without the need for elaboration, that two or more items are similar: She compared her work for women’s rights to Susan B. Anthony’s campaign for women’s suffrage.

Use compared with when juxtaposing two or more items to illustrate similarities and/or differences: His time was 2:11:10, compared with 2:14 for his closest competitor.

So, according to the “APA Style Book,” no, I was not right. It would be: “Matcha has 10 times the antioxidants, when compared with traditional green and black teas.”

I fear sounding like a broken record, but that’s not going to stop me from saying it again: Make me care.

I know that I just wrote about this, but I was inspired to revisit the topic when I read Amanda Ameer’s Life’s a Pitch blog posting today. This week she is asking the same eleven questions of different New York City publicists. Today, she posted the answers of Steven Swartz, who is the founder of Dotdotdotmusic, which provides PR and consulting services to the new music field.

Here is an excerpt from the post:

What is the purpose of a press release? And what, in your opinion, is the most important aspect of a press release?  How does that element accomplish the purpose?

I think any publicist would agree that it’s not enough to convey the essential information — you have to answer the reader’s unspoken question, “Why should I care?”  Ideally, all of the elements of the release work together to provide that answer, but the heavy lifting is accomplished by the narrative you create in the release, and the context you provide to support and enrich that narrative.

So there you have it. Another voice who reminds us that whether you are writing a press release, a brochure, a website or any other marketing material — make sure it answers the question, “Why should I care?”

I was contacted by two new clients this week. One gave me a list of ideas about their company; the other gave me what amounted to a list of facts about an event. Both clients wanted the information turned into one page of marketing material copy. And both were rush jobs — the marketing materials needed to be done in less than 24 hours — so there was no time to get additional information to fill out the marketing pieces.

Can you guess which one I took on and which one I passed on until I could get additional information? You may be surprised to know that I took on the one that started out as essentially a list of facts. Why? Because with such details I knew the:

• unique selling proposition
• target market
• what sets them apart from their competition

Here’s the key: If I have the facts and details to start with, I can usually add flavor, tone, and style. But with only series of belief statements, I have little to work with to tell your customer why they should hire you or buy your product.

Here’s an example: The list of facts included the location of a contest that the organization is putting on (Highline Ballroomin NYC) and what the grand prize will be for the winner of the contest (including a Jacob & Co. pendant).

There are certainly plenty of people who know exactly what kind of vibe and caliber this performance space is and just how coveted a a custom-made Jacob & Co. pendant is. However, there are plenty of people who do not. And if someone who does not know is being approached to be an investor, the one-sheet needs to let him or her know what kind of an event this is.

That in mind, to address what kind of a club the Highline Ballroom is (and by extension, the contest), I included the caliber of artists who have performed there:

“That night, the six contestants will let loose and have some fun—all at the same location that performers like Lou Reed, Mos Def, and Amy Winehouse have performed, at the Highline Ballroom, a performance space in the Meat Packing District on 16th Street.”

And when I described the grand prize, I included some of the designer’s celebrity fans — thereby showing just what kind of caliber the entire contest is:

“a custom-made Jacob & Co. pendant (popularized by the likes of Angela Bassett, Jimmy Fallon, Gisele Bundchen, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, Enrique Iglesias, Justin Timberlake, Fred Durst, David and Victoria Beckham and many others)”

So, when you are creating your marketing materials, remember to include the details of what sets you apart — and also remember to include information that lets people know just why those details are relevant.